Chethma De Mel, Jadetimes Staff
C. J. De Mel is a Jadetimes news reporter covering Entertainment News
Netflix released the first full trailer for Season 2 of Squid Game, hurtling audiences right back into the intense, dangerous competition. It has been three years since Seong Gi-hun, played by Lee Jung-jae, took a very hard-won victory, and now he rejoins the life-or-death competition as Player 456, this time with great determination to lead the new players toward safety.
This was an original season that became an international sensation, depicting the fight for survival by 456 desperate contestants who would do all it takes to win a huge cash prize. The heavy drama became, in no time, Netflix's most-watched series premiere, with 111 million viewers within the first 28 days.
The trailer brings back the infamous masked guards, who usher in a new set of contestants as they prepare for the first killing game, one that fans of season one know all too well: Red Light, Green Light. In this challenge, players must cross a finish line without moving when a giant mechanical doll turns to observe them; even a slight movement could mean immediate elimination by gunfire. Gi-hun barely survived this challenge, and now he tries to guide the players through it. Things become tense, though, as one player responds to having a bee on her-evidently with deadly consequences.
As in prior series, the contestants are offered the option to vote for the end of the games, but while Gi-hun pushes them to take the opportunity, the rest vote to continue, lured by the promise of the big prize represented by the huge piggy bank hovering above them.
Creator Hwang Dong-hyuk said Gi-hun's search for an explanation of the organisers' motives will provide the impetus in season two. "There will be more elaborate games and more participants," he added. Returning in this season also are the masked Front Man, who presides over the games, and police detective Hwang Jun-ho, whose brother's disappearance had led him undercover into the games.
The unparalleled success of Squid Game-1.65 billion hours viewed in the first four weeks-cemented Netflix's plan to increase international original content and the investment in South Korean productions. As season two finally premieres on December 26, 2024, Netflix hopes to repeat the same unprecedented magic of its inaugural season while chasing continued growth with already huge subscriber numbers. It is set to conclude with a third and final season in 2025.
Season two of Squid Game guarantees more high-tension games and an expanded universe that will go further into the mystery behind the games. Audiences old and new are in for a suspenseful holiday season as the series returns.
